Meal Plan Monday.....March 22nd Edition w/Spending Breakdown & 2 Recipe Links

Last Week's Menu Postmortem...
Everything was served as planned except the Corned Beef.  Couldn't find an inexpensive deal on Corned Beef anywhere last week.  I found one on Sunday so we are on for Corned Beef this week.

Here's what I will be serving our family of 4 this Week.....our household presently consists of 2 adults and 2 teens at home.  No children under 14.

This week we'll be using 2 leftover proteins to make two new meals. Since alot of what I am serving is stockpiled, I'm adding a Cost Breakdown Section where I'll list what I paid for the ingredients that are on hand so you can see what I spend w/stockpiling & sales versus buying it weekly when it might not be on sale. If I use a leftover ingredient I won't add that cost as it was already figured into the previous meal's cost.

MONDAY--Beef Tips w/Gravy(leftover), Egg Noodles(stockpile), Broccoli(have)
TUESDAY--Lena's Lemon Pepper Chicken(freezer), Rice(stockpile), Zucchini(have)
WEDNESDAY--Haluski(have & stockpile), Kielbasi or Sausage(freezer)
THURSDAY--Creamy Potatoes and Ham(using leftover ham/need to buy potatoes) , Wax & Green Beans(freezer)
FRIDAY--Fish(freezer), Coleslaw(have & stockpile), Fries(need to buy)
SATURDAY--Ravioli with Sauce(freezer/stockpile), Spinach Salad(need to buy spinach)
SUNDAY--Eat Out


Here are the cost breakdowns...
Beef Tips in Gravy Meal--Beef is leftover(.00¢), flour and soup base for gravy(.30¢), egg noodles(.50¢), broccoli($1.50)=$2.30
Lemon Pepper Chicken w/Zucchini--chicken($1.03),lemon pepper/flour(.85¢), oil(.75¢),zucchini($2.46), tomatoes(.99¢), rice($1)=$7.08
Halushki Kielbasa Dinner--Cabbage(.78¢), Egg Noodles(.50¢), Onions(.25¢), Kielbasa($3.98), Butter(.40¢), Salt/Pepper(.05¢)=$5.96
Potato & Ham Dinner--Ham leftovers(free), Potatoes($1), Butter (.60¢), Cream Cheese($1), Cheese($1), Milk(.50¢), Spices(.30¢), Green Beans($1)=$5.40
Fish Dinner--Flounder($5.99),Hush Puppy Mix for breading(.50¢), Oil for frying(.70¢), Cabbage(.78¢), Mayo, Sugar, Celery Seed & Vinegar(.75¢), Potatoes(.99¢)=$9.71
Ravioli Dinner--Ravioli($6.00), Pasta Sauce($1.25), Spinach($2.00), 2 Eggs(.15¢), Bacon(.50¢), Dressing(.09¢)=$9.99



Adding up what has already been spent and what I need to spend for this week's menu, I can serve this menu of 6 meals to a family of 4 adults/teens for a total of $40.44.

Leftover nights have no cost as they were already figured in when the meal was served the first time.  If you divide the meals' cost by 6 nights(Sunday is dining out & that's on the enterainment budget), you get an average cost per night of $6.74.  That's $1.69 per person per night.  And this is mostly a cooking from scratch menu.  The only 'processed foods' is the pasta sauce for the ravioli.   Who says you can't cook healthy on the cheap?

LAST WEEK'S FOOD SPENDING
$17.39 was spent on food/toiletries last week...all of that was on food actually.  Much better than my previous week's total of $135+.  The only stocking-up I did this past week was a few corned beef briskets and I used Catalinas to pay.  A bit over the $10 mark I tried to stay under but not bad overall.

$12.81 at Weis(for milk and cheese), $.07 at CVS(using $4 ECBs), $3.92 at Price Chopper NE  and $.59 OOP at Rite-Aid on bunches of stuff.  I got some produce & sliced cheese at the small independent grocery also but no OOP since I used that Gift Card I had won last year.

The only NEEDS for this week's menu are potatoes and fresh spinach.  I didn't get potatoes last week for the Corned Beef dinner since we had biscuits already and didn't need more carbs in that meal.  No law saying you have to have taters with corned beef, right?lol  But I have 2 meals this week that need that ingredient so a bag of potatoes is on the list.
I have a $7 Cat to use(not Cat deals at Weis this week so no rolling it) so if I get over to the Weis that takes IPQs I'll use the IP BOGO Potatoes Q and use the Cat to pay, netting me some free taters.


FOOD WASTE REPORT
Nothing wasted this week...Again! 8-))

Check out ORGANIZING JUNKIE to see what other Home Cooks are serving this week.

Sluggy